Georgia’s hopes of reaching the SEC Championship game despite its ugly loss at South Carolina got a boost Saturday night when the Gamecocks followed their domination of the Bulldogs with a loss at LSU.
South Carolina’s 23-21 loss, one week after its 35-7 rout of Georgia, means UGA will represent the Eastern Division in the SEC title game if:
Those are big ifs, of course.
“Right now, I think the best thing for Georgia is to focus on getting better, focus on (this week’s opponent) Kentucky,” UGA coach Mark Richt said Sunday. “It’s kind of a boring answer, as always, but it’s really what we’ve got to do.
“We’ve got some things we’ve got to clean up. We’ve been giving up too many big plays. We’ve got to make sure we get back to running the ball like we (were) early in the year. … We need to get more turnovers. We need to protect the ball a little better. We’ve still got things to clean up in some of our special-teams areas.
“We want to finish strong, and if we can keep improving as we go, we’ve got a chance to have some fun in the end here. But we’ve got a ways to go.”
This past weekend’s results — South Carolina’s loss, Florida’s victory at Vanderbilt and Georgia’s bye — left the Gators (6-0, 5-0 SEC) alone in first place in the SEC East. South Carolina (6-1, 4-1) and Georgia (5-1, 3-1) are even in the loss column. All other East teams have at least three league losses.
Because of its loss to South Carolina, Georgia would lose a tiebreaker with the Gamecocks; that’s why Georgia needs them to lose again. If Florida beats South Carolina on Saturday in Gainesville but loses to Georgia on Oct. 27 in Jacksonville, that would leave the Gators and Bulldogs with one SEC loss each (provided UGA beats Kentucky) and the Dogs with the tiebreaker advantage over Florida.
Etc.
Richt took advantage of Georgia’s open date to watch his son play quarterback for Mars Hill (N.C.) College. Jon Richt set school single-game records for passing attempts (52), completions (33) and passing yards (370) as Mars Hill defeated Catawba 35-28. “I guess I can be a dad who can brag a little bit, but Jon played well,” Richt said. “It was the last time I’ll probably ever get to see him play college ball in person, so it was a treat for me and the family.” … Georgia’s 7 p.m. Saturday game at Kentucky (1-6, 0-4) will be televised on FSN, it was announced Sunday. … Georgia inched up one spot to No. 13 in this week’s Associated Press media poll and remained No. 12 in the USA Today coaches’ poll.
769 comments Add your comment
Alphare
October 15th, 2012
11:49 am
Sammy & SC Dawg,
I think you guys missed the biggest stats for the past 3 years. Here I added for you guys:
2010: 6-0 against all cupcakes, 100%, not so bad!
2011: 10-0 against all cupcakes, 100%, not so bad!
2012: 5-0 against all cupcakes, 100%, not so bad!
Actually no so bad is an understatement. Should be Perfect. You can challenge any other coach with that record. Remember Saban lost to LA-Monroe, Loyd Carr lost to App State?
SammySupporter
October 15th, 2012
11:50 am
LIVE FROM VEGAS — Well said!!!!!!!
joe jenkins
October 15th, 2012
11:53 am
@brainy……hey brah……you sound like a tech nerd who got constantly pounded by the high school jocks….hey let go bro…that was high school over thirty years ago…..time to get out of your moms basement and take a look in the mirror and accept the fact that you are a nerd…and will always be bullied by anybody that has a heart beat
thank you
your friend
the pimp joe jenkins
SammySupporter
October 15th, 2012
11:53 am
“UGA scoring offense, and total offense better than Bama, LSU, Florida or South Caro, not too bad.”
-Sammy
WOW, BRILLIANT STATEMENT! How did those stats work out for UGA in the South Carolina Game? 35-7 Great Total Offense, bonehead
GatorBait 18-4
October 15th, 2012
11:56 am
Going back 22 years is revelant, because all of the recruits have grown up watching the Gators absolute destroy Georgia will. The dawgs think Jax is a jinx, so they tried a home and home in 94 and 95 and Spurrier hung 50+ on the dawgs at both sites. The 51 is the most ever scored on UGA at home. Just before the last series he asked what were the most scored on UGA at home, he then procede to go down and set the record.
So you see all the players playing today know who the dominate team is. Now do you get it?
astrouga
October 15th, 2012
11:59 am
GaitorBait:
I had a nice response for you, but this blog at another one. It seems to happen to me when a new page is created while I am composing my post.
Anyway, UGA was 13-1 in the second season under Richt. Finished #3, with the only loss to Florida. We beat 5 ranked teams that year. I’m not trying to go back, just pointing out the similarity between Muschump start and Richt.
My point was that you guys should get used to 10 and 11 win seasons because that is about all Muschamp will ever produce there.
14 Titles
October 15th, 2012
12:00 pm
Nick’s bringing home his 3rd crystal trophy in 4 years–the Bama D will dominate florida and Alabama wins the SEC easily.
WDE
October 15th, 2012
12:01 pm
@GatorBait 18-4 the UGA players with the exception of the true freshman KNOW they can beat the Gators they did it last year.
Alphare
October 15th, 2012
12:02 pm
Here is Richt’s record against FL:
2004, UGA 31 – FL 24, not so bad
2007 UGA 42 – FL30, not so bad
2011 UGA 24 – FL20, not so bad
What about those dawgs! Huh?
SC Dawg
October 15th, 2012
12:02 pm
8-2-1
8-3
6-5
6-5-1
That’s the Greatest Coach of All Time’s record from 1967-1970. Yes kids, even Bear Bryant went through a period where he lost big games AND some”cupcakes.” And the SEC wasn’t NEAR as balanced then as it is now. Lucky for Bear (and Bama fans) they gave him the benefit of the doubt based on his first 9 years.
South Cackalacky Gator
October 15th, 2012
12:04 pm
Funny how this time last week most of you were calling for CMR head…and then a USC loss makes you think you are better than the team that spanked you 35-7! Get your head out of 1980!
I think Carolina will beat the Gators this week and go 11-1 but lose to Bama in the SECC. The Gators will finish 11-1 as well and take a BCS bid while the Dawgs enjoy Tampa again!
SC Dawg
October 15th, 2012
12:06 pm
Gator Bait – showing off that Gator edumucation again huh! lol The home and home series was played because of construction on Gator Bowl, and this year’s freshmen were about 1 year old then (doubt they remember how dominant the Gators were! lol!!!
astrouga
October 15th, 2012
12:07 pm
Alphare:
You are digging deep. Tebow, Spurrier and Meyer are gone. You should look back at many of those games. Besides the 2008, 2009 games, UGA vs Florida has been close under Richt. Usually a touchdown. I don’t think you should be so cocky. You have an average team and coach. Now, granted, the rest of your season besides UGA and FSU is a joke, but still. You could still lose 3.
DawginLex
October 15th, 2012
12:07 pm
Insider
I don’t pretend to be in the know. Just a guess from what I have seen stictly from a boss/employee standpoint. McGarity can say without hesitation “I stood by you and gave you every chance to succeed.”
Another opinion is none of the 3 you mentioned will ever be head coach in Athens.
Arkansas is all about Charlie Strong. He is a bonafide candidate to take an SEC job next year short of Louisville joining the Big 12. His wife is lily white and I’m not sure if that would fly in Athens. He could get it done in Athens though if given the chance and he clearly knows McGarity from the time together at Florida.
SC Dawg
October 15th, 2012
12:08 pm
South Cackalacky Gator – that’s EXACTLY what Gator and Cocks fans thought last year too! Still a lotta football to be played…time will tell!
astrouga
October 15th, 2012
12:10 pm
South Cackalacky Gator:
You SC education is getting the best of you. You guys are going to lose another one next week. And possibly to Ark or Tennessee. I don’t think you’ll beat Clemson, though I’ll be in your cheering section.
Buzz 2011
October 15th, 2012
12:11 pm
Watch a replay of Dogs vs. Cocks then get back to me about Dog chances!
GatorBait 18-4
October 15th, 2012
12:11 pm
I have no delusion that Florida is the #2 team in the nation, as far as I’m concerned, Carolina is the class of the east. Frankly, I wouldn’t mind if the Gators lost a close game this weekend to SC and then what ever happens in Jax will do nothing to help the dawgs. I would prefer an angry Gator team heading to Jax
The Gators aren’t ready for Bama this year, but should be next year. The dawgs will never be ready to face Saban with a Richt coached team. Richt gets more excited in his Ford comercials than on the football field-he is just too soft.
Live from Vegas
October 15th, 2012
12:12 pm
@SC Dawg
Bryant had won 3 National Championships by 1970, so he had a little credibility banked. Realized he needed to change his program, did so and won 3 more. CMR has won nothing of any consequence since the SECCG in 2005, then went out and embarrassed the SEC by losing the Sugar Bowl to WVU. RichRod made a lot of $ off of that choke job.
Rick James
October 15th, 2012
12:12 pm
@DawginLex
It has been said for a while that Charlie Stong’s wife being white is the reason he never got a head coaching job in the SEC.
WDE
October 15th, 2012
12:13 pm
@DawginLex I don’t think the color of Charlie’s wife would be a problem, it was no problem for our former AD it was his conduct not his color that caused problems in Athens.
Rick James
October 15th, 2012
12:16 pm
@Buzz 2011
Watch a replay of Dogs vs. Cocks then get back to me about Dog chances
————————————————————————————————-
Didnt you say the same thing after Georgia lost to South Carolina last year?
Dawg Tired
October 15th, 2012
12:18 pm
Do we really want to play Alabama on national TV? You think the USCe game was embarrassing! Alabama actually has a good team.
DawginLex
October 15th, 2012
12:18 pm
rick james and WDE
I believe it is an issue but, apparently Arkansas is all over him and really not even talking to anyone else
Beast from the East
October 15th, 2012
12:20 pm
Richt will still be at the helm in 2013. He will wind up with the usual 10 wins and they simply will not fire him with that record.
slow your roll
October 15th, 2012
12:20 pm
Willie Taggart for head coach at UGA! Bring some respectability back to Athens.
Rick James
October 15th, 2012
12:23 pm
@South Cackalacky Gator
Funny how this time last week most of you were calling for CMR head…and then a USC loss makes you think you are better than the team that spanked you 35-7! Get your head out of 1980!
I think Carolina will beat the Gators this week and go 11-1 but lose to Bama in the SECC. The Gators will finish 11-1 as well and take a BCS bid while the Dawgs enjoy Tampa again!
—————————————————————————————————————————-
Out of South Carolina’s LSU,Florida Tennesee stretch two will be losses..Tennessee may be your Auburn of 2012.
Rick James
October 15th, 2012
12:26 pm
@DawginLex
I believe it is an issue but, apparently Arkansas is all over him and really not even talking to anyone else
——————————————————————————————————————————-
I believe that and hope it happens.I think it means too that Bobby Petrino will have two jobs in Kentucky to chose from.
baddawg
October 15th, 2012
12:27 pm
If Vandy can keep it close with Florida until the 4th qtr. then I think we have a chance guys!
DawginLex
October 15th, 2012
12:28 pm
Beast
If Richt wins 10 games in 2013, he is coach of the year
Clemson
Florida
Bama
Tenn
LSU
SC
All ranked next year most likely(maybe not UT) but still, 10-2 means we beat 4 of those teams
Beast from the East
October 15th, 2012
12:31 pm
Lex,
I meant he will win the usual 10 games THIS year, which will bring him back in 2013. Next year, major problems in my opinion. Tough schedule and he has to replace almost the whole defense.
astrouga
October 15th, 2012
12:31 pm
GaitorBait:
I agree with you about Richt and commercials — perhaps if he spent less time doing sports center promos, we might have been prepared for SC.
No disrespect meant, but I think you are drinking the kool-aid. UGA should be better on offense next year, and even if we lose most of our D, we should be pretty good. Still, I can’t see making predictions about next year. Florida will have a 3rd year coach with one terrible season and one decent season. Plus, you don’t even have a schedule yet for 2013, so how can you make any sort of prediction? All you know is that you’ll have 3 chumps and FSU and probably UGA. That is it.
GatorBait 18-4
October 15th, 2012
12:32 pm
Alphare
October 15th, 2012
12:02 pm
Here is Richt’s record against FL:
2004, UGA 31 – FL 24, not so bad
2007 UGA 42 – FL30, not so bad
2011 UGA 24 – FL20, not so bad
What about those dawgs! Huh?
DO YOU REALLY COMPARE THAT TO THIS:
I’ll take this:
2001 Gators 24-10
2002 Gators 20-13
2003 Gators 16-13
2005 Gators 14-10
2006 Gators 21-14
2008 Gators 49-10
2009 Gators 41-17
2010 Gators 34-31
yOU REALLY CAN’T BE SERIOUS.
DawginLex
October 15th, 2012
12:32 pm
rick james
AD at UK will NEVER hire Petrino. Never happen
Candidates for UK
Phil Fulmer
Sonny Dykes-La Tech
David Cutcliffe
Paul Johnson(yes, he will be contacted)
Jeff Monken(GA Southern)
Kentucky has to have a niche to recruit to and the TO would be the perfect storm. Most likely though is the guy at La Tech because of Patrick Towles, the freshman QB. He came from a spread offense and he has a cannon.
slow your roll
October 15th, 2012
12:35 pm
how do you know LSU and Bama are both on 2013 schedule?
Alex
October 15th, 2012
12:36 pm
Look I love CMR as a person but he is starting to lose his luster as a coach. Yes he recruits very well, but it isn’t translating to titles. I don’t see the dawgs turning it around until we fire him or he resigns. I vote we promote CTG to HC because he is fiery and recruits well also. We then hire a guy like Chad Morris/Gus Malzahn/etc. that runs the spread and can put up the points. With a high octane offense, combined with a stingy 3-4 defense, I feel the dawgs could get it done. Hey, it worked for Urban in Gainesville for a few years I’d say…
Beast from the East
October 15th, 2012
12:36 pm
Lex,
I read in the Gainesville Sun, from Pat Dooley, that Petrino IS on a short list of candidates for the UK job. He’s one of the most respected writers in the southeast, so I have to take him at is word. I’ve said it for months, that Petrino will be coaching at UT or UK next year. Not sure if UT can come up with the money to fire Dooley, so they may be stuck with him for a few more years. Those idiots are still paying Fulmer!?!?!
Losers of the SEC
October 15th, 2012
12:38 pm
We got lucky last year in avoiding BAMA, LSU, and Arkansas…. somehow we got lucky this year and did not have to play any of the good teams in the west again!
The problem is we are only winning against the cellar dwellers of the SEC and are like 0-9 against the better ranked teams in the SEC over the past few years….
Here are our wins over the Losers of the SEC.. and their Conference Records
Missouri = 0-4
Vandy = 1-3
Tenn = 0-3
UK = 0-4 (Assuming we win this weekend and then they will be 0-5).
That is a collective 1-15!!!!! Why should we be surprised at the USC beatdown when we don’t ever face good competition?
But you say I am forgetting the other wins…. that’s right we beat
Buffalo = 1-5
Florida Atlantic = 1-5
BTW, we beat Buffalo 45-23 and yet this past weekend Northern Illinois beat them 45-3!! Shows you how we have been drinking our own kool-aid.
We need to take a cue for Tech and let Grantham Go….
Earl
October 15th, 2012
12:38 pm
Doggies had a ruff game, move on. Nothing to see here. We all know Richt lacks the killer mentality it takes to be elite. Here’s the bottom line: SC should have lost by several tds…..they got manhandled cause they couldn’t take their stadium full of idiots with them. They got a lot of favorable calls and non-calls too. Game wasn’t even close as score indicated. Doggie fans need to support their team to the end. Screuuu Richt. We don’t cheer for Richt. Doggie fans quit bashing your team. The other bashers (the trolls) arejust playing you . Get over the loss, you are ranked 12th in the country. Don’t be a fool.
Live from Vegas
October 15th, 2012
12:39 pm
Alex, Alex, Alex…CTG and the spread is a recipe for disaster. Fail.
Cal22
October 15th, 2012
12:42 pm
You Gators better watch out. UGA y fans were even surer they were going to beat Carolina. They also seem to think that they are the only ones with anything to loose in JAX and therefore their team will play harder. Of course you Gators are gonna roll over for a suddenly ambitious GA, regardless of next week’s outcome. Let’s not forget the Bulldogs three weeks of rest leading up to the cocktail party. Oh and Muschamp has absolutely no interest in beating his Alma mater. Since he lost due to a few calls that went GA’s way last year, I’m sure he’s just forgotten all about it.
Earl is blind
October 15th, 2012
12:46 pm
Earl,
And what have the Dawgs done to merit a ranking of 12th best in the country…. Their schedule has been worse than when everyone complained about Boise State playing nobodys….
Look at the post above yours @ 12:38PM and look how awful the dogs competition is…
One thing that poster didn’t mention is….. that 1-15 collective SEC record of the SEC teams UGA has beatten….. the 1 win was unavoidable as that was win Vandy and Mizzo played each other.
Translation – It mathematically could not be any worse. So hang your hat on what win? Who have we beaten?
It is fans like you that think beating creampuffs is something to beat your chest about – We can not and have not beat a decent team in 4 years!
joe jenkins
October 15th, 2012
12:47 pm
I don’t get this backing into to the seccg….in 07…tenn won the east because we beat fla….in 2010…sc won the east with 3 losses….one of them to kentucky……If we win out and win the east…we damn well deserve it…We have to start playing Georgia defense, we need to get meaner!!! John jenkins where you at man…he looks like he should be eating qb’s whole.!!! Our lb’s are the best part of our defense…I just hope we win the east and get a shot at redemption against bama…and lsu will not get there…their qb is awful….so much for some of you fans wanting zach over murray
Other Brother Earl
October 15th, 2012
12:47 pm
Slow roll
go back to the tech blog. Me n my brothers know which trailer park you live in, nerd. Love all these new dogs dawging the real doggies. Didnt yo momma tell you if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything. BTW, you rite really good for a nerd, now get off the Dawg blog with your hate.
DawginLex
October 15th, 2012
12:49 pm
And one more thing to point out to Thomas Brown and flat tire and the other complaining trolls:
Do any of you still believe that Zach Mettenberger is better than Aaron Murray?
Thomas Brwon, do you still believe that Mett should have started as a true freshman against Oklahoma State in 2009?
Mettenberger is holding back a massively talented team at LSU. Murray behind that OL and they are undefeated and ranked #2 in the country. Put Mett in Athens and I’m not sure he is even starting.
You guys have been totally exposed
GatorBait 18-4
October 15th, 2012
12:49 pm
astrouga
October 15th, 2012
12:31 pm
GaitorBait:
I agree with you about Richt and commercials — perhaps if he spent less time doing sports center promos, we might have been prepared for SC.
All you know is that you’ll have 3 chumps and FSU and probably UGA. That is it.
I”LL BET ANY AMOUNT YOU CAN COUNT THAT WE PLAY: LSU, SC, KY, VANDY, TENN AND 2 UN-NAME WEST TEAMS———————–HOW IS THAT SCHEDULE?
DawginLex
October 15th, 2012
12:54 pm
Beast I know the AD at UK and unless he has changed his stripes and been forced, Petrino is not a candidate. Could be wrong because he is good at hiding stuff because he shut down the good old boy network when he came to UK. Used to be able to call certain folks and they always knew the truth about who was gonna get hired or fired. Not anymore.
I will say this, Petrino at UK in the same year that Strong leaves would be a monster slap in the face to Louisville
WDE
October 15th, 2012
12:56 pm
@Earl nice post there!
is this the tech blog?
October 15th, 2012
12:56 pm
Lots of idiots attacking good Ga. Fans. I guess since tech can’t beat anybody, they need to beat their gums about how bad UGA is. 12th in the polls and 11th in the BCS. Must be doing something right. Sure got the techies excited with one loss. They now think they have a chance. Stupid bugs.
astrouga
October 15th, 2012
12:56 pm
Losers of the SEC:
Good point about the records. However, you realize that besides UGA and LSU, South Carolina played the same sort of losers. So they beat one and lost to the other.
LSU is the same way, take SC and Florida out, and they have played the same level of losers. They beat one and lost to the other.
Florida is in the same boat — mostly losers so far. I’ll give them a slight edge in this argument in that they survived A&M.
This argument only holds up at the end of the season. We’ll see how it all works out though eventually.